Title : A
Short Walk in the Hindukush
Author :
Eric Newby
Publisher
: Picador India
ISBN :
978-0-330-46267-9
Travel
writings are slowly climbing their way up in my preference list these days.
Perhaps they have discovered the fact that I will never venture into some of
the places that are being written about - the wilderness of Alaska, remote
places in Afghanistan, scaling Mount Everest and the likes. So they entice me
even more and to their delight I am letting them to. In keeping with the urge to read more of
these, I requested MySmartPrice for 'A Short Walk in the Hindukush' by Eric
Newby. It was a good choice.
In his frank and humorous way, Eric Newby has managed to compile a writing piece guiding potential climbers on what not to do in order to be a successful mountaineer. A wonderful and exciting book, interestingly written, 'A Short Walk in the Hindukush' is also recommended by Lonely Planet.
In his frank and humorous way, Eric Newby has managed to compile a writing piece guiding potential climbers on what not to do in order to be a successful mountaineer. A wonderful and exciting book, interestingly written, 'A Short Walk in the Hindukush' is also recommended by Lonely Planet.
Giving in
to his discontent while being in high-profile haute-couture industry, Eric
Newby embarks on an amusing journey to one of the remotest places on Earth. He
has his old friend, Hugh Carless, as a companion on this expedition. Though
completely inexperienced and ill prepared, they both are brave and determined
enough. They decide to set out to climb Mir Samir in the Nuristan Mountains of
Afghanistan. In 1956, they decided to begin their trip with a crash course in
basic climbing at Snowdonia in Wales so as to get a feel of the rigours that
await them ahead.
They
trekked through Nuristan, a region in the North-East of Afghanistan and then
'almost climbed' the challenging Mir Samir(6,059 m). They had to turn back just 700 feet
from the summit because of their continual dysentery and altitude sickness.
However, three years later in 1959, Mir Samir was successfully scaled by a
German mountaineering team.
As
expected in such wanderings, Eric Newby and Carless had a brush with wide range
of adventures and experiences which range from nerve-wrecking, bone-chilling to
thrilling. They passed through various big and small villages, met many people,
peeked into the lives of some locals, came to know about peculiar lifestyles of
many and had many (un)pleasant encounters. Along with reporting about these
things, the author has beautifully sprinkled his narrative with light humour
and wit. As they progress on their expedition, we also get to read a lot more
about their loose stomachs and about the hostile natives of those regions. The
overall picture that gets created after reading about his sojourn in the most
beautiful wilderness on Earth does not speak very high about the locals. The
description of natives often slips into being derogatory and author's
conceitedness comes through in the open. To be fair to the author, this could
also be just his honest portrayal of what he felt and experienced. And we must
not forget that this book was written in 1958, when how the book would be
received was less of author's worry. So I feel what he felt is what he has
reported without trying to smooth-en the edginess of his comments.
Towards
the end of their trek, the author writes, "I had the sensation of emerging
from a country that would continue to exist more or less unchanged whatever
disasters overtook the rest of mankind." I wonder what the author would
have said about the country now.
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